You Can Sit Beside Me When The World Comes Down
by Deadly Poppy
Summary: Katie isn't happy. George isn't happy. Everyone can tell except for George, so it comes as an awfully big shock when she leaves him. Can he pulls himself together enough to get her back, or will she slip through his fingers forever? George/Katie
1. In Which Katie Dreams Of A Wedding

**Disclaimer: This is one.**

*********

"This one!" Catherine screeched. "Katie, _this _is _your_ dress!"

Katie looked at the magazine her older sister was holding up. "Oh. My. God." It was perfect. A simple, strapless white dress, with a huge flowing skirt and a plain white veil. Even at eleven-years-old, Katie knew in that moment she would one day walk down the aisle in that dress.

"It _is_ beautiful," Katie breathed. "But what about you, Cath? We're looking for _your_ wedding dress, not mine."

Catherine sighed, just as she did anytime her upcoming wedding was mentioned. "I know, but I couldn't wear a strapless dress. Nothing to hold it up," she added, laughing.

Katie laughed too. Her sister was right, she definitely got that trait from the shallow end of the gene pool, unlike Katie.

"Besides, it's too plain," Catherine continued. "No, I want something…"

But Katie tuned out, dreaming of her own wedding day.

"_Do you, Katherine Elizabeth Bell take MmmmhFlhhmm…" she would be asked._

"_I do," she would say. She would sound like a princess, her voice soft and sweet, all wind and silver bells._

"_And do you, MmmmhFlhhmm, take Katherine Elizabeth Bell…" her imagination always blurred out the groom's name when she dreamed of her wedding, because she had yet to decide on a guy._

"_I do," he would say. His voice would be deep and strong. The voice of someone who would protect her and hold him in his arms when she was scared._

_And then they would ride off on a broomstick (even at a young age Katie was fascinated by flying) and a firework would explode out the back of it, saying "Just Married!" and everyone would cheer for her._

"Bell!" Oliver Wood snapped, pulling her out of her fantasy. "We need you out of the clouds."

Which, if you think about it, seemed like a funny thing to say as once she was flying, up in the clouds was exactly where he needed her.

Katie, now thirteen, glared at him. Didn't he realize she had just been pulled out of her dream wedding.

Apparently he didn't, because all he did was whistle with his fingers and order them all into the air.

Damn that Oliver Wood!


	2. In Which Katie Isn't Happy

"Mummy!" Lucy wailed from the living room. "Jake put a cauldron on my head!"

Katie Weasley sighed heavily as she followed the sound of her four-year-old-daughter's voice.

"Jacob Weasley!" she shouted when she was nearly into the room. "You had better not be anywhere near the living room when I get in there!"

She heard quick footsteps as he ran from the room. It didn't take long for his and Lucy's bedroom door to close. It was no secret that Katie and George's apartment was tiny.

Yes, Katie and George Weasley. It was a long story, one Katie didn't care to think about often, as it gave her a migraine.

"Oh my god!" Katie exclaimed when she saw that not only was there a cauldron on Lucy's head, but that it was stuck there as well. She pulled out her wand and got it off fairly easily.

"Lucy, go to your room and send Jake out here, alright, Sweetheart?"

"Yes Mummy," Lucy said in that sweet baby voice she only used when her brother was about to get into trouble.

A moment later Katie was sitting on the couch, her seven-year-old son standing in front of her.

"Why Jacob?" was all she could seem to say.

"It was an accident!" Jake insisted. "I promise, Mummy! We were playing Tag-"

"In the house?" Katie groaned. Jacob ignored her.

"-and the cauldron fell of the shelf and onto her head. Then when I tried to pull it off, it stuck! She just wants me to get in trouble! She wants me to-"

"Alright," Katie interrupted. "I understand." Truthfully, she didn't particularly feel like hearing whose fault it was. "Just don't let it happen again, okay Jake?"

Jacob, obviously sensing his mother's distress, nodded and went back to his room.

Katie stayed on the couch, thinking about her life. She wasn't unhappy per se. she had two kids who she truly loved, and a husband who…well, she did care for him. She did.

So why wasn't she happy? She knew she should be. Only…well, there were still times when Kati dreamed of her fantasy wedding. But the groom's name was still blurred out. It wasn't George's name. It never was.

"_George?" she had said. He had come home late to find her sitting on his couch._

"_Katie?" he asked, surprised. He'd been sure she was still mad at him about a fight they'd had earlier. They'd always been having fights lately._

"_George, I have to tell you something." Even seven years later, she could remember his face. Relief with a tiny bit of dread. He thought she was going to break up with him, and he was relieved. Even now, seven years later, when he told her he loved her every night before he went to bed, she pictured the expression on his face that night, and knew they were empty words._

"_Yes, Katie?" he asked, ready for it._

_But her next sentence blew him away. "I'm pregnant."_

_That was the part Katie remembered. After that she knew there'd been a discussion, and the decision to get married had been a logical one, not the fantasy proposal she'd dreamed of._

_And the wedding. Usually it was best to block out the wedding altogether. There was no money for her dream dress, or any part of the dream wedding really. She wore a plain white dress, not even really a wedding dress, and it was a very small procession._

_And then it was over. Three was no broomstick with the "Just Married!" firework. They went home. Moved in together. And it was pretty much the same for nine months. And then, when the baby came, so did the realization that they were actually married._

Katie didn't realize she was crying until George got home. She didn't notice until he was right in front of her, wiping her tears away.

"What's wrong, Katie?" he asked. She noticed they way he stood straight, formal. He told her he loved her, but they never touched. Never held hands, or had their arms around the other's shoulder. They never kissed.

"George?" she asked, so suddenly she barely had time to register the words she was saying. "Why am I not happy?"

He was silent. She was silent. The kids were in their room, probably asleep by this time.

"I don't know, Katie." He never called her anything but Katie. It was better than Katherine, her full name, which would have sounded entirely too formal, but her friends called her Kates, or Kat. He called her Katie.

"Are you happy?" she asked, not looking at him.

"I don't know."

This was the wrong answer. She had wanted him to say yes, of course he was happy. He loved her and he needed her. Instead, he had answered truthfully. And the truth hurt.

"Should I take the kids with me, or should they just stay here tonight?"

George was shocked, Katie could tell. And hurt. But when he spoke, he kept it calm and collected. That was one thing Katie liked about George. He would never lose his temper around her or the kids. "Lucy will be upset if she waked up and you aren't here," he said simply. "But maybe you could let Jake decide."

And she did. First she went into her and George's room, packing a bag. George followed, watching her put her things inside of it slowly and deliberately. Next she went into the kid's room, packing a few of Lucy's and picking her up without even waking her.

"Jake," Katie said softly, nudging him.

"Yes, Mummy?" he asked sleepily.

"Lucy and I are going to Aunt Alicia's for the night." Not technically a lie. "Would you like to come, or would you rather stay here tonight with your dad?"

Jacob sat up and beckoned his mother closer. Then he whispered, although Lucy was asleep and therefore couldn't hear him. "I have to go with you," he said. "Or Lucy will be afraid of the monsters."

Katie had a sudden urge to cry, but she refrained. Jake packed his bags, and in the next instant, they were gone.

George waited a while. Then a while longer. Then he realized it had been six hours. That was when it occurred to him that she wasn't coming back. That was when he cried.


	3. In Which Katie Hates Irony

Alicia Spinnet was surprised, to say the least, when she answered the door to find Katie and her kids outside in the rain.

"C-can we-" but that was as far as Katie got before she burst into tears.

But it wasn't hard for Alicia to figure out. She'd known Katie since she was a first-year at Hogwarts, and she'd known her and George weren't happy, even before Katie herself realized it.

"Shh, come in," Alicia said, leading her in. "Come on. You can have the spare room."

So she led Katie into her guest room, where she put the kids to sleep, and then out into the living room, where they had a cup of coffee.

"No, you don't have to tell me," Alicia began. "But if you want to, I'm here. I won't ask if you don't want to talk about it, because I understand-"

"Alicia," Katie interrupted. "It's alright. Nothing happened. Not specifically, I mean. I just suddenly realized I wasn't happy. I haven't been for a long time."

"What about George?" Alicia asked, obviously forgoing her not-asking policy.

"I don't think he was happy either," Kati answered. "But I can never be sure with him. He hasn't been the same since Fred."

Alicia nodded sympathetically. "I know, Sweetie," she muttered soothingly, as Katie began to cry. "I know.

*********

The next day, Alicia woke Katie up promptly at nine o'clock.

"You're not going to sleep in late," she informed Katie. "It'll make you depressed."

Katie, although wanting to Alicia she was already depressed, didn't have the energy to argue with her. So she got up.

"Here's what we're going to do," Alicia began, always one to take charge. Not in a bossy way, but more of a I-can-do-this-in-right-and-make-everyone-happy sort of way, and Katie was thankful for it. "I'm going to take Jake and Lucy out for a while. While I do that, you're going to take a nice, long bath. Then when I come back, we'll all eat lunch. After lunch, I'll take the kids over to Angelina's while you get dressed. Then you and I are going out to make you feel better. Then you'll get a good night sleep, and tomorrow, you're going to talk to George."

Katie wanted to argue, but it's awfully hard to argue with someone when you know they're right. So she did as Alicia asked.

"And don't drown yourself in the bathtub," Alicia warned, but Katie was pretty sure she was joking.

*********

"When I told Ange and Lee what happened," Alicia said later, starting her sentence as soon as she walked in, assuming Katie would be right there and already listening. And she was. Katie was used to Alicia's way of waiting for no one. "They said feel free to stay out as long as we like, and they'll keep an eye on Lucy and Jake. And now, we decide where we are going."

Katie was in no mood for making suggestions, although the bath and getting dressed up had made her feel better. She couldn't remember the last time she'd actually taken her time doing her hair and makeup. And she was pretty sure nothing dressy still fit her. She ended up being right, and had to borrow a dress from Alicia.

"You look gorgeous by the way," Alicia told her. "Absolutely lovely. I might have to rethink letting you wear that dress, because no one will notice me with you sitting right there!"

Katie just sighed. "Well, where shall we go, then?"

Alicia bit her lip. "Well, it's just us girls, and we're not exactly trying to pick up guys…but this is also supposed to be cheering you up, so it should be fun…"

"Let's go bowling!" Katie suggested, for the simple purpose of watching Alicia's face as she attempted to figure out what 'bowling' was.

Unfortunately, Alicia ignored her. "We could go to the Three Broomsticks!" she announced. "We used to love it when we were in school!"

"Okay," Katie said. "But I'm sticking to Butterbeer."

And it was decided that was where they would go.

*********

"Aunt Katie!"

"Oh dear god," Katie muttered.

"Sorry," Alicia whispered. "Didn't know the Hogwarts students were coming this weekend!"

"It's alright," Katie said. "Hi James!" she added, turning to greet her nephew.

James Sirius Potter was walking quickly toward his aunt.

"What are you doing here?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh, just having a drink with Alicia," she said, smiling as best she could.

"Well, I'm here with…" James trailed off, suddenly realizing there was no one with him. "Where'd she go?" he asked worriedly.

"You date left you?" Katie asked, hating irony more and more by the minute.

"I knew it!" he cried. "I knew I should have been listening when she went on about her Potions final!"

Damn irony!

"I have to go find her!" James told them hurriedly, running off before they had chance to reply.

"Katie," Alicia began warily.

"Can we just go?" Katie interrupted. "I'll do whatever you want. I'll talk to George tomorrow, whatever. Can we just please go?"

Alicia nodded, and they went back to her flat.

That night, just as Katie was getting to sleep, Jacob poked her in the side.

"Mummy?" he asked.

"Yes Sweetheart?" she asked tiredly.

"Are you and Daddy getting avorced?" he asked.

Katie opened her mouth, but no reply came out. She just couldn't lie to him. Not when he'd asked so worriedly like that. She couldn't.

"I don't know, Sweetie. I just don't know."

"I hope not," he said simply, snuggling back into her side and falling asleep instantly.

Katie, however, couldn't sleep at all.


	4. In Which George Oversleeps

There was a loud knock on the door.

George looked at the clock. "Shit," he muttered. He'd overslept. Katie was here.

"Just a second!" he called in the general direction of the door. He forgot, of course, that she had a key.

"George?" she asked softly, walking in just as he pulled a shirt on.

"Shit!" he cried again, startled, as he banged his knee on the bedside table.

"George," she repeated. "Can we go into the living room?"

George had never heard her sound this small. "Sure," he replied.

Looking at her, he had a sudden urge to take her hand. But, like he had had done with the urge to throw himself off the bridge the previous night, or rush to Alicia's apartment and beg for her forgiveness, he resisted.

She sat on the couch, and he took the chair.

"So…" he said.

She looked tired. Like she hadn't slept at all. He told her so.

"I haven't," she said simply. "I've had a lot on my mind."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"George, I'm pregnant."

He felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach. This was something he hadn't expected. Katie seriously had a knack for getting pregnant at the worst moments.

"What?" he asked dumbly. "Why didn't you tell me before."

"I wanted to," she said quickly. "It's just…I was hoping, wishing I guess, that things would suddenly be better, and then I could tell you, and we would all be a happy family, and-where are you going?"

George had gotten up and walked out of the room. A moment later, Katie heard the front door slam. She waited until she was sure he was gone before she let herself cry.


	5. In Which George Asks A Question

"I need your help."

Ginny was so surprised to see her brother standing on her doorstep she had to do a double take. It wasn't that he was antisocial, there was just a sort of unspoken rule in the family that you sent an owl before you showed up at someone's door.

"George!" she exclaimed happily. "It's so great to-"

"I need your help," he repeated, and she picked up on his mood.

"Come in," she said, leading him to the couch. They hadn't even cleared the kitchen when the questions started. "What's wrong? Are the kids okay? Is Katie alright? Is something wrong."

"She left," he said, his face blank, as he sat down on the couch next to his sister.

"Who?" Ginny asked confused. Then she got it. "Katie?" she gasped.

George nodded. "She left. Her and Jake and Lucy. They just…left. Then she told me she was pregnant. Again."

"Oh Fred!" Ginny exclaimed, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"But…why?" he asked helplessly.

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Katie isn't happy," she told him. He nodded, as if this were obvious. "She hasn't been for a while."

"She told you that?" he asked, suddenly angry. "She didn't say anything to me.:

"She didn't tell me, George," Ginny assured him. "I can just tell. Everyone could tell."

"But why?" George asked again. He sounded so upset. So helpless and in need, Ginny felt sorry for him.

"George, you and Katie got married because she was pregnant."

"Yes," George said, waiting for more.

"Well, it never was the romance of the century."

This annoyed George. "But I love her! Surely she knows that?"

Ginny shook her head. "You may know that, but if you don't let Katie know-"

"I tell her every day," George said impatiently.

"You say it, but do you show it?"

George held his head in his hands. This was all so confusing.

*********

"Katie?" a voice asked. "Katie Bell?"

Katie turned to see Oliver Wood standing in front of her.

"Oliver!" Katie exclaimed, shocked. The last place she had expected to run into her old Quidditch captain was in the bookstore.

Alicia was watching the kids, insisting Katie go do something, anything to get her out of the house.

"Wow, Katie Bell," Oliver said, walking over to her. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"It's been a long time," she agreed.

"So how's life been treating you?"

This was a difficult question to answer. But instead of thinking to deeply into it, she went for the standard, "Oh, fine."

"Yeah, me too," Oliver said nodding. "You look great!"

Katie blushed, looking down. "Thanks," she muttered.

"You really do," he told her. "Amazing. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened had I ever gotten up the courage to ask you out back in school."

Katie's face turned even redder. "You liked me?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, yeah!" he told her. "I mean, who didn't? You were beautiful, and not exactly shy."

Katie laughed. She had never hesitated to make sure she got her point across back at Hogwarts.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Olive exclaimed. "How about I buy you a drink later. The Leaky Cauldron?"

Katie opened her mouth, a thousand replied catching in her throat. "No thanks, I'm married," was probably the obvious one to say. As was, "No thanks, I'm pregnant." Even just, "No thanks," would have done really. But instead, Katie stuck her foot right in her mouth.

"I'd like that."

*********

"Freaking out here!" Katie called to Alicia.

"Well you shouldn't have accepted then," Alicia said simply.

"Well, I know that, but-"

"Now you have to go. And you can do whatever you want from there on, but you have to at least go. This is your own mess that you got yourself into, so you have to go."

Katie sighed. "Fine!" she snapped.

*********

George took a deep breath. Then he took another. Then another. Finally, Alicia pushed him toward the door.

"The Leaky Cauldron," she said. "Go!"

"Why is she at the Leaky Cauldron if she pregnant?" he asked, confused.

"She's…" but for once, Alicia Spinnet was at a loss for words.

"She not…there with someone?" George asked unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.

"Well, I don't think they're technically-" But George was already out the door.

*********

"Hi Katie!" Oliver greeted her when she arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hello, Oliver," she said, smiling warmly at him.

"Can I get you something?" he asked, referring to the waitress who was coming their way.

"Just a butterbeer, thanks," she said.

"Right," he said. "Two butterbeers," he told the waitress. Then he turned back to Katie. "So, what have you been up to since we last saw each other. I mean, I heard about that incident in your seventh year, but I'm sure a lot's happened since then."

"Well…" Katie began. She wasn't sure what she planned on saying, but as it turns out, it didn't matter.

"Katie?"

"George!" she said, surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asked angrily.

"Catching up with an old friend," she snapped. "Which I believe I am perfectly within my rights to do."

"Katie-" he began, but she cut him off.

"I have every right to be here with Oliver. You hurt me, George. I haven't been happy in seven years-"

"Katie!" he cried. "Please just listen to me."

"I'm listening," Katie said expectantly.

"Katie," he began, taking a deep breath. "I know I've made a right mess of things. I probably won't ever be able to make up for it. I know that, I do. But I want to try. Please, just give me a chance to make it up to you."

"George, what exactly are you asking?" she asked, confused.

"Well…" He got down on one knee. "Katie, will you marry me? Again, I mean?" When she didn't say anything for a moment, he added, "Please?"

"Oh George!" Katie cried. "I just…I don't know!"

And then she ran.


	6. In Which Katie Is Very Pregnant

**_You can sit beside me when the world comes down -- All-American Rejects_**

*********

"Mummy, mummy, mummy!" Lucy yelled from the living room. "Jake hit me!"

"I did not! She threw a book at me!"

"Nu-uh! He's lying!"

"No, she's lying!"

"Nooo-"

"Enough!" Katie cried. "Please, could you just settle down?" she pleaded with them. "You're giving Mummy a headache."

"Yes, Mummy," the kids said in unison, walking into their room.

Katie leaned back on the couch, rubbing her temples.

When she opened her eyes, George was staring at her.

Katie shrieked with surprise, having not heard the door open. George grinned at her. "You're really beautiful when you're sleeping," he told her conversationally.

She rolled her eyes. "Really?" she asked. "Sure it has nothing to do with being pregnant and having your husband scare you shitless?"

He just grinned wider, grabbing her by both wrists and pulling her into a standing position. Having not factored in her enormous stomach, however, he couldn't quite get close enough to kiss her, and settled instead for standing there, holding both of her hands. And grinning like an idiot.

It was times like these that Katie's eyes wandered over to the picture. It had been hanging in the biggest, most obvious spot on their wall since it was taken…

"_An do you, Katherine Elizabeth Bell, take George Gideon Weasley…" There it was! There was his name. Not blurred out. Right there. And there were the guest, oohing and aahing when she came out, looking like a princess in her strapless white gown._

"_I do," Katie said, her voice soft and happy, just like she'd always dreamt it. "I do," George agreed, smiling at Katie, happier than she'd seen him in a long, long time._

_The only thing that wasn't the same was the broom. When she'd begun planning her re-wedding, something George had dutifully stayed out of, she'd realized how impractical it would be. She didn't mind though. Setting off the wizard equivalent of a Smoke Bomb and apparating directly out of the party was even more fun._

There were still a lot of bills to pay, and soon there would be one more mouth to feed, and sometimes George was still so sad about Fred he didn't get out of bed until noon. But at times like those, it's good to have someone there.

Sometimes, true love is the person who will sit beside you when the world is coming down.

*********

**Hey everyone! Normally I do Katie/Oliver or Katie/Fred, but if I so Katie/Fred, it has to be alternate universe or end all sad, and I was a little sick of Katie/Oliver, so I let Fred get the girl today. I kind of liked this story, though I have to say it was different than what I normally write.**

**Disclaimer: This is one. =o)**


End file.
